The European Space Agency (ESA) has released the unseen pictures of a mysterious salty purple mermaid on the surface of Mars.
According to Space, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) of the ESA captured images of the salty purple mermaid on the red, brown, and grey surface of Mars back in 2022.
ESA wrote in a statement along with ExoMars' image, “A purplish, scaly wave lures the attention of a European spacecraft as it flies over. It is just an optical illusion – there are no mythological mermaids or seas in the Martian world today.”
The gleaming purple was spotted at the dried-up riverbed in the southern hemisphere of Mars known as Terra Sirenum, ‘Sea of the Sirens.’
The statement further contiued, “Very salty waters could have become a haven for life, a beacon for habitable places on Mars. High concentrations of salt allow water to remain liquid at temperatures as low as -40 ºC.
"The chloride deposits in this picture and their direct relation to liquid water make areas such as Terra Sirenum good targets for future robotic missions searching for signs of life," it added.
Moreover, the high-resolution Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) of the orbiter determined the purple mermaid as the chloride salt deposits.
